Product Review: WebsiteBox

By Kelly J. Phelan, RET Content Team Member

There are a plethora of real estate website solutions on the market today that are easy to set up. Tech companies have realized that most agents aren't technically minded, and that even those who are simply don't have the time to design and build a site.

While this is great for agents (we don't have to tell you that a website is a necessity, do we?), narrowing down which vendor to use can be overwhelming. As one of the newest challengers in this increasingly crowded arena, WebsiteBox has differentiated themselves in a way that's hard to ignore--by appealing to agents' wallets.

Their hook is powerful--for a one-time fee of $99, agents get a website, integrated IDX search, a CRM, hosting, and more--for life. Seem too good to be true? That's exactly what our readers have been wondering. Ever since WebsiteBox debuted at Inman in January, we've been fielding phone calls from RE Technology members who want to know, well, what we know.

The truth is, we didn't know much until recently. We knew that WebsiteBox had created a tremendous buzz in a very short period of time, but we hadn't yet peeked under the hood to see how everything worked. Thankfully, CEO Peyman Aleagha gave us a tour of WebsiteBox and answered all of our questions. Now, we can answer all of yours!

The Big Question

Before we dive in, we'd first like to address what's on everyone's mind--is this for real? The skepticism is understandable. Too many companies draw consumers in with one price, only to tack on extra fees (we're looking at you, airlines). People are accustomed to looking for a catch.

I am a newly licensed agent and am looking at cost-effective options for promoting myself and this product certainly seems to meet that criteria. All the basics seem to be included for the base price, however, it will remain to be seen how effective it is at drawing in leads and maintaining a web presence. Used in conjunction with social media, it looks like a truly cost effective way to get up and running on the internet, whether or not you have a tech background.

by Sean Regan 2013-12-23 01:11:00

Informative article, thank you.

by Corbin Mitchell 2014-08-06 17:14:12

I'm definitely going to give this a try.

by Pamela Bickett 2015-10-14 12:13:48

I purchased a site from Website Box a few months ago and LOVE it! I've worked with others, mainly AlaMode, but they charge hundreds every year to renew. I've been incredibly happy with this company - very user-friendly, and I'm in process of setting these up for other agents in my office. Anyone can create a very professional site with appeal, and with the IDX feed, it's always current information. It's basically on auto-pilot, but I would like to spend more time tweaking it and becoming more familiar with it.